Japan Jan nationwide core CPI up 0.1 pct year/year

TOKYO, March 3 (Reuters) - Japan’s core consumer price index rose 0.1 percent in January from a year earlier, marking the first year-on-year rise since December 2015, government data showed on Friday.

The reading for the core CPI, which includes oil products but excludes volatile prices of fresh food, compared with a median market forecast for flat growth.

A separate, new index that excludes the effect of energy and fresh food prices, but includes processed food costs, rose 0.2 percent in January from a year earlier, the data from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications showed.

The ministry says the index, released for the first time on Friday, is useful in tracking price trends because it strips away one-off factors. It will continue to release on its website the “core-core” CPI, which excludes energy and food prices.

Core consumer prices in Tokyo, available a month before the nationwide data, fell 0.3 percent in February from a year earlier, versus expectations for a 0.2 percent decline.